Accidents Happen

And indeed they do. I was mightily shaken up on my journey back to the South on Wednesday. I’d just passed Cherwell Valley Services on the M40 regretting the fact I hadn’t gone in for something reminiscent of a sandwich, when on the horizon I saw a huge dust cloud. It was like there was a stampede of Wildebeeste headed towards me on the other side of the carriageway.

It was then I caught sight of a Rover 216 as it hit the central reservation, spun and careered backwards across three lanes, narrowly missing being T-boned by a lorry and disappeared out of sight, presumably down the embankment. It was an horrific spectacle. I don’t yet know the fate of the driver involved.

Just last night I was speaking to a friend about accidents, he’s a bit younger than me and took some pride in letting me know the crash he had a couple of weeks ago wrote off his car. Thankfully he was ok which could explain his bravado but all of this got me thinking. Why do people slow down to look at accidents?

On many occasions I’ve driven into work to be faced with a sea of traffic only to be told by the voice on the radio that the traffic build up is due to ‘rubber-necking’. This is something I’ve never understood. I’m sure there’s some in depth intellectually scientific psychological study explaining the whys and where for but I haven’t got time to read that. However this web site: http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/ has given me some interesting facts about accidents and why they’re not always called accidents but most importantly a definition of ‘rubbernecking’:

”Rubbernecking is where drivers slow down to look at accidents or anything out of the ordinary on the highway. Events ranging from gruesome car accidents to a police car stopped on the shoulder can cause traffic jams on both sides of the road, even if the roadway has been cleared.

Although caution is advised when there is unexpected activity on the side of a road, a car with a flat tire on the side of a highway often causes as much slow down as a real accident would due to rubbernecking. The slowdown in traffic persists even after the accident scene has been cleared if traffic is dense. Traffic experts called this phenomenon a phantom accident. Often this behavior causes additional and sometimes more serious accidents among the rubberneckers.”

Is it just that we’re all voyeurs? Personally I never look, I wouldn’t want to see it. Surely you don’t want to see your fellow road users in a heap of twisted metal? I know I wouldn’t.

Whilst looking into this I was reminded of an ‘erotic’ and controversial film ‘Crash’ an adaptation of JG Ballard’s novel by David Cronenberg http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=102374 about people who get so turned on by car accidents as a result of being involved in one it instigates a torrid affair fuelled by the crashes in which the participants get all carnal and lusty in the wreckage. My interpretation of that is the whole ‘realising one’s own mortality’ argument so the ‘breeding’ adrenaline kicks in. But still that wouldn’t be my cup of tea.

Seeing the accident on Wednesday did make me realise my own mortality but if anything drove home my argument to prevent rubbernecking, I think there should be a road safety campaign highlighting it. I’d be more than happy to be involved in that.

Starting as I mean to go on, as a Motor Muppet road safety aside if you must get lusty in your jalopy I’d prefer the vehicle was in one piece and definitely stationary